1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to apparatus and methods used by teachers and instructors for planning and presenting lesson plans, and more particularly, to a lesson planning notebook that facilitates the preparation and presentation of lesson plans.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
In order to effectively and efficiently present new material to a class of students, an instructor must prepare a lesson plan outlining the concepts and examples to be presented. Certain lesson planning tools have long been available for teachers and other instructors. For example, lesson planning notebooks are known wherein a teacher writes the lesson onto the pages of the notebook. However, such known lesson planning notebooks often lack adequate space for inserting a detailed lesson plan, compelling the instructor to use small print that can be difficult to read in a classroom setting. Also, such lesson planning notebooks often include pages that are not easily removed from the notebook; accordingly, the instructor must write out the lesson by hand, rather than typing the lesson. In addition, the instructor must label each page of such notebook with the time of day, day of the week, class period, etc., in order to indicate the time during which such lesson should be taught. This labeling task can become a burden to the instructor. Moreover, anticipated lesson plan schedules often need to be altered due to school scheduling changes and/or the need to devote extra time to handle student questions. Therefore, the original labeling of the lesson plans may need to be revised to meet unexpected circumstances.
The present inventor has found that a standard-sized 8 and one-half inch by 11 inch sheet is insufficient to adequately display lesson planning information for an entire day of instruction. While a larger sheet could, in theory, be used, such larger sheet would not ordinarily fit within a conventional three-ring presentation binder, and a larger binder would be difficult to store and transport. On the other hand, there are advantages to maintaining all lesson plans for a single day's instruction on a single sheet of a notebook.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a lesson planning apparatus which can easily display typed lesson plans in order to avoid the need for the teacher to handwrite each lesson plan.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a lesson planning apparatus which provides sufficient space to conveniently present an entire day's worth of lesson plans, while maintaining the same dimensions as a conventional three-ring binder.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide such a lesson planning apparatus which avoids the need for the teacher to write in labels on each page of the lesson plan in order to indicate the time at which each component of the lesson is to be taught.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide such a lesson planning apparatus which allows an instructor to easily adapt to schedule changes or instances where a lesson was not completed due to student questions or unanticipated delays.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method for more effectively planning and presenting lessons to be taught to a class using such an apparatus.
These and other objects of the present invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art as the description of the present invention proceeds.